Raised by her adventurous brother, Gabriella Montini has been brought up in an unconventional way. While other young ladies of society were being taught about their role as a wife, she was busy dressing up as a boy and running around the world. As she grows older, her brother, Enrico, finally realizes that this life is not suitable for a young lady and sends her home to England to finish out her education.

When he was eight years old, Nathanial Harrington, along with his two older brothers, decided they were all going to become smugglers. As they grew older and realized that a life of crime was not for them, they instead became archeologists, looking for the next infamous treasure or lost city.

After years of being told she could not come back to the life of a treasure seeker, Gabriella finds out that her brother has perished from a suspicious illness, and before his untimely demise, the one treasure that was sure to give him recognition from the Antiquities Society was stolen. Now Gabriella will stop at nothing to show the world that her brother was not just some hot-headed libertine not to be taken seriously, even if that means she must become immoral herself, breaking into an earl’s home in the middle of the night to try to get the evidence to clear her brother’s name. She did not expect to get caught red-handed, she did not expect to get help from those who she suspected the most, and Gabriella most certainly did not expect to find Nathanial Harrington to be unbelievably handsome and oh-so hard to resist.

The Virgin’s Secret is the start of a new series from Ms. Alexander about three brothers who delve into the world of archeology and treasure seeking. While this novel is a good story filled with action, adventure, suspense, and the sweet feelings of seduction, it was not the best I have read from this author. The story started off great with its portrayal of the brothers’ lives when they were young; however, it became a little dull after that. Midway through, the tale started to pick up again, and I could see the tension between Gabriella and Nathanial escalading as their escapades became more and more suspenseful. The back and forth sparring between the two main characters is definitely well written and pretty substantial throughout the story. My favorite part of this novel is how unique Gabriella is; she is not some piece of fluff for a woman, and in those days, not as accepted; the fact that Nathanial likes her for who she is makes this adventurous story much more likely to leave a good lasting impression.